Trapped
by CathGilLove
Summary: Gil and Catherine investigate a collapsed building.
1. Chapter 1

1/1

"Ready to go?" Catherine asked, knocking Gil's hardhat.

He frowned slightly, readjusting his hat. "Let's go take a look."

The collapsed building stared back at them and they both made their way to the entrance where Jim Brass stood.

"I've talked to the architect and he says everything should be stable enough for you to go in." Brass frowned. "I'm still not sure I like this though."

Catherine peered into the dark depths of the building and shrugged. "Doesn't look any worse than the one I was in last time. Nothing happened there."

Gil turned on the flashlight. "Let's go."

Catherine followed Gil through the darkness, carefully avoiding stepping on anything or tripping.

"Here we go," Gil said, stopping. He focused the flashlight on a dent in the ground. "This was where the beam fell." He glanced at the beam a little further along. "Wonder how it got over there?"

Catherine knelt down with the camera. "Why would anyone want to come in and move such a heavy beam?"

"Unless something else hit the ground here," Gil said, peering around. "I'm just going to go past the beam, see if there's anything else that could have caused that dent."

"Want me to come with you?"

Gil arched an eyebrow. "I'm not afraid of the dark, Catherine."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I meant to help."

Gil shook his head. "Stay here and see if you can find anything else. I'll be back in a moment." He smiled slightly. "You're not afraid of the dark are you?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Only of the spiders that scuttle around in it."

Gil chuckled and headed further down the building, stepping over the beam and going into the dark.

Catherine heard a scuttling noise and frowned. "That's not funny, Gil." When he didn't reply, she shrugged and kept looking around the ground.

* * *

Jim Brass folded his arms and watched the building. Something didn't feel right about this whole situation. He heard another creak from the building and took a step back. Something really didn't feel right.

* * *

Catherine heard the creaking noise again and frowned. She would have really felt a lot better if Gil had returned from his little journey south of the beam, but she hadn't heard anything since the scuttle of what she hoped was a spider a few moments earlier. A loud creak sounded again and she stood up.

"Gil? Are you coming back anytime soon? If you've found any bugs down there, they're evidence!"

Silence greeted her. "Gil?"

She was about to go forward to find him when the creaking intensified, and her body was thrown backwards by debris as the floor collapsed in front of her.

Everyone outside unconsciously ran back as the back of the building gave way.

"We've got two CSI's in there!" Brass called. "Get them out!"


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

Catherine coughed and spluttered, hand to her forehead as she struggled to sit up. She felt something warm and sticky on her hand, which she discovered to be blood. Shaking her head, she finally sat up, still feeling a little woozy, probably from being blacked out for a few minutes. As the reality of the situation dawned on her, she felt a pain stab through her heart.

"Gil?"

Dammit, he was not going to do this to her. Not after all the crap they'd been through together.

"Gil Grissom answer me dammit!"

She coughed again, shaking the dust that kept falling in her eyes. "Don't make me come down there and find you!" Her teasing comments belied the sense of dread she felt. "Gil!" Catherine crawled closer to where the floor had fallen. "Gil you son of a bitch, answer me!"

Hope returned as she heard a small voice return her call. "Catherine?"

"Gil? Stop playing games damn you. Come out here right now."

"Can't," came the hoarse reply. "Leg…beam."

The pain in her heart grew stronger as she crawled as close as she dared to the collapse. "Come on Gil, you're a big tough CSI. Don't pull this crap on me." She looked at the rubble. "I'm coming down there."

The voice became more insistent, louder even. "Don't you dare even think about it Catherine Willows. Get out of here and get outside."

"Nice try, macho man" she replied. She slid down a small decline of rubble and looked around. "Okay, we're going to play a game. You call polo when I call marco, okay?"

"I thought I told you…"

"And when have I ever done what I'm told?" She crawled along a bit, following the voice. "Come on, get angry at me again. I'm following your voice here." There was silence and she frowned. "You better not have passed out on me Gil, because when I find you I swear to God…"

"Shutup," Gil replied.

She grinned. "I knew you couldn't help yourself." Catherine came across a barricade of rubble and slid down next to it. "Gil, are you behind there?"

"Yes. Now go back up and get out of here."

"No," she replied stubbornly, resting her head against the cool rocks. "I'm not leaving you here. You dragged me in here and you can damn well think again if you think I won't stay here until they drag us both out."

"You stubborn, crazy…"

"Yeah, heard it all before." She wished that she could scoot closer to him, hold his hand even. "I'm not leaving you down here, Gil." Furiously she wiped a tear away. "How bad are you hurt?"

"Just my leg. What about you?"

"A little cut to the head. No big deal." She pulled her knees up to her chin. "So how long do you think it'll take them to get us out of here?"

"A whole lot less if you'd go back up."

"Not a chance."

"Don't be stupid, Catherine. If there's another collapse like earlier…"

"We'll both be here. I already said that I'm not leaving you. Don't argue with me when I have a headache."

Concern spoke waves through his voice. "Catherine, is your head still bleeding?"

She pressed a hand to her forehead and took it away again. "No," she lied. In truth, it was still bleeding a little, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "Shouldn't be too long a wait now."

"I don't know about that. They've got to stabilize the building before they send anyone else in."

"Well, that'll give us plenty of time to talk, won't it?" she replied, sounding more cheerful than she felt.

* * *

"What's going on?" Warrick asked, as he, Nick and Sara arrived on the scene. "We got a call saying that two CSI's were trapped in a collapsed building."

Jim sighed. "Grissom and Catherine were checking it out. There was another collapse inside."

"Have you heard anything from either of them?" Nick asked, looking worried.

"Nope. ESU won't go in there until we can ensure it's structurally sound." He looked at them. "You guys have to prepare yourselves for a possible crime scene."

* * *

"Maybe if I tried to move a few of these rocks," Catherine said, scrabbling a little.

"Don't," Gil warned her. "It could cause another collapse, or you could hurt yourself." He sighed. "I wish I could see you."

Catherine blinked back a tear. "Aww, Gil, I didn't know you cared," she teased.

"I do care, Catherine. Very much."

It was almost as though her heart had stopped for a few seconds. "I care about you too, Gil."

"So, tell me about what you think caused the collapse?" Gil asked.

Catherine drew her knees up to her chin, disappointed the moment was lost. "This one or the first one?"

"The first one," Gil replied. "Something tells me we're going to have plenty of time to talk about the second one."


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

AN: Huge thanks to Angie and Emily for their help with this part :)

"What is that?" Sara asked, as a small robot on wheels exited a larger van.

"We're going to send Mack in to take a look. See what kind of state we're looking at," one of the officers explained.

"We just need to get Grissom and Catherine out of there as fast as we can," Warrick commented.

* * *

"Gil, I have a question for you."

"Sure. What's the question?"

"If we died in here today, what would be your biggest regret?"

"You're morbid today, aren't you?"

Catherine groaned. "Just answer the question."

"Well, I don't know. I'd have a lot of regrets. I have regrets now."

"Gil…" Catherine whined. "You're not playing properly."

"Catherine…" Gil mimicked. "You're a nag."

"I am not!" she said huffily. "Come on Gil, what would be your biggest regret?"

He sighed. "Okay, let me think." He pondered for a moment, pretending that it was a hard decision, when really, he could have answered before she was finished the question. "Not being with someone I have loved for 17 years."

There was silence for a moment, as Catherine digested what he had just told her.

"I always thought I knew you better than myself," she finally said. "And I know for certain that the only other woman that has been in your life for 17 years is your mother." Then with a typical Catherine Willows tease, she smiled. "I hope it's not your mother you're talking about."

"You know who I'm talking about," Gil said seriously.

"Yeah, I do," she replied, just as seriously. "Say it, Gil."

He smiled on the other side of the rubble wall. "I love you, Catherine Willows. Always have and always will."

She felt a tear trickle down her face and pressed her hand against the wall, wanting to touch him. "I love you too, Gil. Very much."

"Don't cry, Catherine."

She sniffed. "I wasn't. Just wondering how long it will take those idiots from ESU to get us out of here."

All of a sudden she heard a funny whirring sound. "Gil, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I can hear a whirring noise."

"I want you to get out of here, Catherine," he told her.

"No," she replied stubbornly. "I'm not leaving you."

"Catherine, if you can get out, they can get in. Please, go."

"No!"

"What about Lindsey?"

There was silence.

"That's not fair, Gil."

"No, what's not fair is you staying down here. Get out of here."

"Wait…" The whirring noise came closer. Catherine kneeled and crawled around a little, until she saw the robot. "Gil, I think we're going to be okay."

* * *

Catherine Willows hated hospitals. She didn't like the smell or the association.

"Can I go yet?" she asked the nurse, who was preparing some bandages.

"Ms Willows, you have a pretty bad cut on your head. We want to clean it up to avoid infection."

"What about Gil Grissom? Where is he?"

"Mummy!" cried Lindsey, racing into the room and flinging herself at her mother. "I heard it on the radio when Aunt Nancy came to pick me up! I'm so glad you and Uncle Gil are okay. I was really scared!"

Catherine clutched her daughter to her, hugging her tightly. "I'm fine. Just a little cut on the forehead." She caught the nurses look. "Which I am just about to get fixed up."

There was a knock on the door and Nick poked his head around. "Am I allowed in or is this a ladies only deal?"

"Hi, Nicky," Catherine smiled. "Come on in. Have you seen Gil?"

Nick nodded. "Warrick and Sara are up with him now. He's fine. He's just got a broken leg."

"It could have been a lot worse, I hear," Jim Brass said, coming in. "Of course, I told the Sheriff that you and Gil may need at least a few days to recover and that paperwork might be a little backlogged."

"Thanks."

"You're okay now, Ms Willows. The doctor will want to see you soon though."

Catherine nodded. "Can I just go and see Gil first?"

The nurse smiled slightly. "I'll tell the doctor that's where you'll be."

"Can I come and see Uncle Gil too?" Lindsey asked.

"Hey, Lindsey," Nick said, glancing at Catherine and then back at Lindsey, "how about you and me get Sara and Warrick and go get something to eat in the cafeteria?"

Lindsey looked at her mother who nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Catherine knocked on the door to Gil's room. He looked up and smiled as he saw her framed in the doorway.

"Hey. Should you be walking around with that cut?"

"I'm a big girl, Gil. The nurse is going to tell the doctor where I am." She walked over to the bed and looked at the white plaster covering his leg. "I thought you'd at least get a colour."

He gave her a look and she smiled.

"Okay, maybe not, but I want to sign it."

Gil rolled his eyes and moved over to one side of the bed. "Come and sit with me here."

She didn't need to be asked more than once and curled up beside him. His arm embraced her, urging her head onto his chest. Her hand rested on his chest as she snuggled closer to him, breathing his scent, which was drowning out the hospital smell.

"I'm glad you're alright," she said, her eyes closing slightly.

He yawned. "I love you, Catherine."

She smiled as her eyes closed, ready for sleep. "I love you too."

"Hey, Catherine?"

"Mhm?"

"Before you go to sleep…"

Her eyes opened and she moved slightly to look at him. She grinned. Bending her head down her lips brushed against his.

He deepened the kiss slightly and they kissed until their lungs screamed for air. When they moved apart, they smiled at each other.

"Sleep well, Catherine," Gil told her, as she snuggled back into him.

"You too," she murmured, drifting off to sleep.

Finis


End file.
